


Split-Second Decision

by CarpeDiem



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: BAMF Obi-Wan Kenobi, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Friendship, Gen, POV Anakin Skywalker, POV Obi-Wan Kenobi, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:07:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24933502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarpeDiem/pseuds/CarpeDiem
Summary: The Force gives Obi-Wan a second chance after dying on the Death Star and sends him back to a point during the first year of the Clone Wars. Upon seeing Palpatine Obi-Wan reacts rather drastically.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 25
Kudos: 473





	Split-Second Decision

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wonderful beta Spencer!

Ben was prepared for the moment when it finally arrived. 

He took one last look at Luke and even though he saw fear and panic in his face, Ben smiled. He trusted the Force, and he had trust that Luke Skywalker would restore balance in the galaxy. Probably not tomorrow and not even by next year, but Ben had hope. It had sometimes been hard – so very hard indeed - to hold onto that hope during the long and lonely years on the edge of the Jundland Wastes, but when he had found Luke in the company of R2D2, hope had become palpable once more. 

Now, his journey was at an end, and in a way he was glad that he was finally allowed to become one with the Force. He was tired and his work was done. 

Ben closed his eyes and took one last breath, before the Force welcomed him in its arms.

***

Ben had not known what to expect after becoming one with the Force, but that wasn’t it. 

He was floating, but without the sensation of his body. All around him was noise, but at the same time there was vast and utter silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, even though Ben could not have said on which sensation he based that assessment. There was a notion in the back of his mind however, telling him that this wasn’t it. 

_If you could change one thing, what would it be?_

Ben didn’t hear the question; it was more like feeling it and without a conscious thought the image of a boy, a teenager and a young man, all with the same radiant blue eyes appeared in front of him.

Anakin.

Regret, so powerful it caused white hot pain inside of him, engulfed Ben. 

He had failed Anakin. 

As a master, as a friend, and as a brother. Ben didn’t know if the fate of the galaxy would have been different if he had managed to save Anakin from the darkness, but the answer to that question didn’t really matter. Anakin’s fate would have been different.

_Then do better this time._

Ben thought, ‘How am I supposed to do that, I’m dead.’

But before he could do more than that, he had the feeling of being suddenly accelerated, not unlike the first milliseconds after jumping into hyperspace, but impossibly stronger - and backwards. A blinding white light appeared all around him and the next moment he collided with something hard and flat in his back. Startled, he opened his eyes and gasped for breath.

“Obi-Wan, are you alright?”

His surroundings took shape and he found himself standing in a LAAT/i, the fingers of his right hand closed tightly around one of the handles hanging from the ceiling of the gunship. The flat surface on his back was the ship’s interior wall, and he took a step forward to regain his balance.

It took a moment for his mind to identify the voice that had spoken to him, and there he was, standing just ahead. 

Anakin.

It was truly Anakin himself, the shaggy blonde hair that fell in his eyes, a scar donning his right eye, and a slightly worried look on his face. 

“Obi-Wan, are you feeling well?” Anakin questioned with a worried brow, and it took Ben a moment to realize that this Anakin was speaking to him. 

But that couldn’t be right; Ben was dead, he had become one with the Force and Anakin was… gone. 

An irritated look fell upon Anakin’s face. “I swear, Obi-Wan, if there’s another injury you’ve hidden that’s _just a scratch_ , then I’m telling the pilot to revert to the Temple and I will drag you into the Halls of Healing and make sure that Master Che keeps you under observation for a whole tenday!”

Ben frowned, blinking a few times, but Anakin stayed standing in front of him. 

“I’m fine, Anakin,” Ben assured him. “I wasn’t injured, I promise. I just lost my footing for a moment.” 

The LAAT/i shook softly as it continued its flight and a strand of hair fell into Ben’s eyes. Without thinking about it, he lifted his free hand to brush it out of his face again, and realized that his hair should not have been long enough to fall into his eyes in the first place. 

Anakin was still looking at him warily, eventually shrugging it off though. “Alright, but if you feel dizzy again, you tell me. Fainting in front of the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic doesn’t make a good impression, General Kenobi.”

Ben just stared at Anakin, and a second later the LAAT/i rumbled as it landed. Sunlight flooded as the ramp opened and a hundred different noises greeted them as Ben saw the Senate hangar in front of him, bustling with activity under a bright blue Coruscant sky. 

Anakin exited the gunship and Ben followed him a moment later, too stunned to do anything else but react. Anakin didn’t wait for him, but walked across the landing area, nodding to people who recognized him. There were politicians, technicians, support staff, a few droids and the blue clad Senatorial Guards. Ben tried to make sense of all of this, but utterly failed, until he caught his reflection in a transparisteel wall separating the landing areas and stopped dead in his tracks.

The person looking back at him, was not the sixty-year-old, white bearded hermit named Ben he had anticipated seeing. Instead he came face to face with Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator in the prime of his days, clad in his tunics, battle armor and with his trimmed ginger beard, looking a bit weary but not a day older than 35. 

This was impossible; he’d died, he was sure of it. Old Ben had died, protecting Luke from Darth Vader. Then he remembered the vast floating silence that had been bustling with noise and the words that had appeared inside of him.

_Then do better this time._

Ben - no, Obi-Wan touched his beard and felt the sensation under his fingertips, allowing the reality of the situation to sit in.

He didn’t know how it was possible, but this was real, he was sure of it. Had the Force given him a second chance and sent him back in time? He had never heard of something like this – time travel - happening before, but as Master Yoda had always said: Mysterious are the ways of the Force. 

And now Obi-Wan was here on Coruscant, standing on the landing area of the Senate complex. He decided to trust his instincts and to trust the Force and his senses told him that this was indeed real. 

“Obi-Wan, what are you doing?” Anakin had stopped on his trek forward, irritation crossing his features once more, hands planted on his hips. “The Chancellor is waiting for our report. Come on, your beard looks fine. And he knows we’ve come straight from Seleucami.”

Seleucami, the rescue of Eeth Koth and their search for Grievous on the surface of the planet that had ended with Grievous escaping once again. Apparently, they had just returned to Coruscant and he and Anakin were on their way to report to the Chancellor. 

Obi-Wan gritted his teeth; Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, Darth Sidious, instigator of this war and the man that had been whispering lies and deceptions into Anakin’s ears for years now. Obi-Wan was certain that it had been Palpatine’s plan all along to make Anakin his apprentice, and Palpatine had carefully groomed him for this and pulled him towards the Dark Side right under Obi-Wan’s nose. 

Anakin had probably never even realized what Palpatine had been doing. The war had done the rest, because just as Palpatine had intended, the constant violence and pain had tainted and destroyed every single Jedi that had been duty bound to defend the Republic. The Jedi were supposed to be guardians of the peace, not Generals leading armies into battle. 

Obi-Wan forced himself to push those thoughts away, before looking at Anakin with a wry smile. “Some of us are still attentive of our personal appearance, Anakin. Maybe you should take this to heart a little more and do something about that mop of hair on your head. You look like you were stranded on an uninhabited planet in the Outer Rim for half a rotation.”

Anakin scowled. “Very funny, Master. Sometimes I really have no idea why they call you the Negotiator when your sense of humor should have gotten you banished from every negotiating table in the known world.” 

Anakin turned and continued onward to the Senate Building. Obi-Wan allowed himself a small smile, before following him. 

The Senate building was a huge complex, but Anakin and Obi-Wan knew their way around in their sleep. They passed senators, guards and staff on their way through the hallways and up the turbolifts to the office of the Supreme Chancellor. 

The doors were already open when they arrived, two Senatorial Guards were standing outside and Obi-Wan could hear voices coming from inside of the office. Upon entering, Obi-Wan saw Palpatine standing in front of his large desk talking to Senator Bail Organa, and the Chancellor was seemingly in the process of accompanying Organa to the door after their meeting had ended. When they noticed Anakin and Obi-Wan entering, they stopped in the middle of the office, a delighted smile appearing on Palpatine’s face.

“Anakin, my boy. It is good to see you and Master Kenobi have returned safely.”

Bail Organa greeted Obi-Wan with a short nod, but Obi-Wan barely noticed it. He was focused on Palpatine who stepped towards them and placed a hand on Anakin’s shoulder in a fatherly gesture. Anakin smiled at Palpatine and it was that smile on Anakin’s face that left Obi-Wan feeling fear. Shev Palpatine was responsible for only death and destruction and his tone was so warm, it was almost convincing to Obi-Wan.

Getting a grip on himself, Obi-Wan tightened his shields and greeted Palpatine with the best smile he could muster.

Palpatine only gave Obi-Wan a cursory glance, before offering both him and Anakin to take a seat. Anakin moved towards Palpatine’s desk and Bail Organa bid his goodbyes before walking towards the door. 

Obi-Wan kept his eyes on Palpatine, watching him walk towards his desk as well. Strangely enough, there was a lack of rage inside of him, and instead a sense of calmness flooded his senses, a knowledge of exactly what needed to be done filling him. 

Obi-Wan made a split second decision, summoning his lightsaber to his hand and severing Sheev Palpatine’s head from his body. 

***

Anakin turned around frowning, when he heard the familiar hum of a lightsaber. However, the scene that greeted him erased every conscious thought from his mind, and before he could even begin to comprehend what he was seeing, a shockwave of dark and crackling Force energy hit him dead on. 

Anakin tried to raise his arms protectively while anticipating being blown off his feet, but nothing happened and the shockwave passed him without causing harm. It was over a second later, and the only thing that remained was a crawling sensation on his skin and a few tendrils of dark Force energy in the air, that slowly disappeared like smoke in a soft breeze. 

The scene in front of him though was just as incomprehensible as it had been a moment prior. 

In the middle of the office, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine lay on the ground, his head a few feet beside him, cleanly severed from his body and the edges still smoldering slightly. Next to Palpatine’s body stood Obi-Wan, lightsaber still in his hand.

“Kriffing hells! Obi-Wan, what have you done?!”

Anakin’s words echoed loudly in the room, while he stared at his former Master in utter disbelief. Obi-Wan didn’t answer, but deactivated his lightsaber, placed it on the floor in front of him and knelt down, feet crossed at his ankles and fingers interlaced behind his head.

“I surrender.”

Anakin continued to stare at Obi-Wan, until he noticed the two Senatorial Guards entering the Chancellor’s office and readying their weapons, while Senator Organa swiftly stepped out of the way. 

Anakin raised his hands and stepped over Palpatine’s dead body. “Don’t shoot!”

The guards halted, their weapons aimed at Obi-Wan, but not attacking. 

Anakin looked around helplessly, while everything that had just happened came crashing down at him; Obi-Wan had just beheaded Chancellor Palpatine. Taking a shaky breath, Anakin glanced at the Chancellor’s dead body and his severed head lying next to it and he had to blink several times as he felt the twisted and rotten sensation of the Dark Side emanating from the corpse. It was saturated in dark Force energy that bled off it in sickening waves.

“You feel it, don’t you?”

Anakin turned around to look at Obi-Wan, upon hearing his voice behind him. Obi-Wan was still kneeling on the floor, looking impossibly calm.

Anakin could indeed feel it, even though it made absolutely no sense. He nodded, unable to answer as Obi-Wan simply smiled softly, before averting his gaze and turning towards Senator Organa. 

“Senator Organa, if I may give you a word of advice: Contact Senators Padmé Amidala and Mon Mothma and tell them what happened. Then you have to search Chancellor Palpatine’s offices and his private residence. And whatever you do, do not let Mas Amedda or Sly Moore anywhere near those investigations.”

Organa stared at Obi-Wan, before shaking his head helplessly. “What in the nine hells is going on here?”

“Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious that the Jedi have been looking for. He was the puppeteer behind this whole war. The Vice Chair and the Chief of Staff both knew his true identity.”

Anakin couldn’t believe the claims Obi-Wan was making. It was impossible and yet on the floor lay the dead body of Chancellor Palpatine, oozing dark Force energy out of every pore. 

“Do what he said,” Anakin heard himself say. He looked up and his gaze caught Bail Organa’s. After a moment the Senator nodded briefly and then walked out of Palpatine’s office. 

The Senatorial Guards remained, their weapons still aimed at Obi-Wan. 

“General Skywalker, what shall we do with him?” One of the guards asked.

Anakin wanted to reply that his Master had just killed a Sith Lord and therefore rid the Galaxy of the biggest enemy of the Republic, but Palpatine had been the Supreme Chancellor and being a Sith Lord wasn’t technically a punishable crime. Treason against the Republic was, but that would have to be proven and until then, Obi-Wan had beheaded the Supreme Chancellor. 

Anakin took a deep breath and turned to pick up his master’s lightsaber, addressing the two guards, “You,” he commanded to the higher guard. “Seal this room, call for reinforcements and don’t let anyone inside. And you,” Anakin looked at the other guard, “Follow me. We will escort General Kenobi to the detention cells in the Temple.”

Anakin took another deep breath and looked at Obi-Wan. “Will you come willingly?

His Master nodded. “Yes, of course.” Then he stood up from the floor, his movements slow and deliberate. 

Anakin took the lead, Obi-Wan and the guards following him out of the office. The higher ranking guard closed the door behind them and took position in front of it, while the other man followed Anakin and Obi-Wan. 

Walking down the hallway, Anakin still couldn’t shake the surreal feeling of this entire situation, but he forced himself to focus and activated his commlink. 

“Master Windu, this is Anakin Skywalker.”

“Skywalker, you were ordered to report to the Chancellor first thing after landing on Coruscant,” Master Windu answered brusquely. “Is the meeting over already?”

Anakin huffed, the irony of this question not entirely lost on him. “Yes it is, Master Windu. Obi-Wan has just beheaded Chancellor Palpatine in his office.”

***

Obi-Wan was sitting cross-legged on the floor in his small cell beneath the Jedi Temple. 

As a Jedi Master suspected of a crime, he was detained in a force dampening cell and even though the energy modulation in the force field surrounding the cell was not able to cut him off from the Force completely, it was doing a very good job of making it nearly impossible for him to use the Force nevertheless. 

During the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan had worn a Sith Torture Mask on one memorable occasion during his imprisonment by Asajj Ventress on Rattatak, and this one experience made it possible for him to remain calm and centered. His calm mind allowed him to be certain that only a few hours had passed since he had beheaded Chancellor Palpatine.

The sound of footsteps made Obi-Wan’s eyes open and he saw Anakin appear in front of the force field. They stared at one another through the blue shimmering blue barrier, gaze unbreaking. His former Padawan hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to proceed, and as always Obi-Wan could read Anakin without difficulty. No doubt Master Windu and Master Yoda had forbidden Anakin from coming down here to see Obi-Wan while the investigations were still ongoing - and they had to be ongoing, because otherwise the Head of the Order and the Grandmaster of the Order would be here personally to release Obi-Wan from his cell. 

After a few moments however, Anakin raised one hand to the force field mechanism and deactivated the blue barrier. The Force rushed back into Obi-Wan’s awareness and he took a deep breath while welcoming it back. It was always difficult, but it had only been a few hours and it wasn’t the first time Obi-Wan had to deal with this sensation.

Anakin stepped into the small cell and looked at Obi-Wan as if he was a particularly complex and vexing part of machinery that he couldn’t quite understand properly. Obi-Wan knew that look very well, but it had never been directed at him before. He had always been Anakin’s prim and proper Master, the perfect Jedi, the Negotiator. 

Obi-Wan had perfected that façade in the years after Qui-Gon’s death, when Anakin had still been too young to notice how troubled Obi-Wan had actually been. Eventually, Obi-Wan had become so good at maintaining this mask that he had started to fool himself. He could see that he’d made mistakes with Anakin, too many to count. 

Anakin continued looking at him, before he seemed to lose his patience and shaking his head. “How did you know? That Palpatine was the Sith Lord? I thought he was my friend. Master Yoda and Master Windu had both talked to him hundreds of times, and yet...How could you possibly have known?”

Obi-Wan had anticipated that question to be one of the first questions Anakin would ask and he had decided to tell him the truth. “I’m not who you think I am, Anakin. My mind was sent back here twenty two years from now. I’d died then, and now, I live.” 

Anakin did a double take, completely surprised by that answer. For a long moment he simply stared at Obi-Wan. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” he said finally. 

Obi-Wan smiled sadly and shook his head. “Unfortunately, I’m not.”

Anakin continued to stare at Obi-Wan disbelievingly, possibly still trying to determine, whether Obi-Wan had lost his mind, but after a moment he huffed and ran his left hand through his hair. “I can’t even tell if you are telling the truth or not. Your shields are so thick, I can hardly feel you through our training bond.”

It was only because of their training bond, that Anakin was able to feel Obi-Wan at all. By tradition that bond should have been severed after Anakin became a knight, but with both of them fighting in the war side by side more times than not, the bond had been too valuable. At least that had been the reason Obi-Wan had always used as an excuse to avoid dealing with the real reason: He hadn’t wanted to lose his connection to Anakin.

“I can’t lower my shields, not entirely, but I can show you that I am telling the truth,” Obi-Wan offered, before extending his hands, palms up towards Anakin. 

Anakin hesitated, but then he took a step forward and took Obi-Wan’s hands. The bond between them flared to life, and as always, Obi-Wan was mesmerized by how bright Anakin was in the Force. 

He took a selfish moment to simply bath in Anakin’s light, before showing him that he was indeed telling the truth by offering glimpses of the future; the Order 66, Palpatine’s speech in front of the Senate, declaring the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Galactic Empire, and finally Master Yoda’s fight against Darth Sidious that the Grandmaster of the Order had shared with Obi-Wan before their ways had parted. Obi-Wan allowed the bond to flare open, the compassion and care he felt for Anakin shining bright.

Anakin’s eyes widened and Obi-Wan smiled, lifting one hand and putting it on the side of Anakin’s face.

“I’ve always cared for you a great deal, Anakin. I’ve cared for you more than one should in the eyes of the Jedi Order, and I’ve never allowed you to see it. I’ve come to realize that this has been a mistake. I love you Anakin, you are my brother and my friend. I will always stand by your side and I will never abandon you.”

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan in complete wonder and after a moment a big smile slowly started to appear on his face. “I feel the same way about you Obi-Wan,” he answered, radiating warmth and love through their bond, but then his emotions became troubled and his expression uncertain. “But I’ve kept things from you,” he whispered. “Padmé and I…”

Obi-Wan interrupted him and shook his head. “It’s alright, Anakin. I know about your wife and it doesn’t change anything. Your emotions are a part of you and your love for Padmé makes you stronger, no matter what the Jedi Code says. We all have attachments, but we have to be mindful not to let them become obsessions to be protected and obsessed over, because that is what leads to the Dark Side. I know you have been tempted by the Darkness, and I know what you did to the Tuskens on Tatooine after your mother’s death. You did something terrible that day, but you are not beyond redemption. Believe me, Anakin, I know what it feels like to be seduced by the Darkness, but I will not give up on you. I can feel the Light in you Anakin, and I know that you are strong enough to resist the Dark Side and I will help you fight it every step of the way.”

Tears glistened in Anakin’s eyes and Obi-Wan could feel the maelstrom of emotion through their bond. Love, gratitude and hope, but also shame, uncertainty and fear. 

Obi-Wan stepped forward and pulled Anakin into a hug, holding him tightly. Anakin desperately clung to him and Obi-Wan vowed to the Force that he would keep Anakin in the Light. 

Palpatine was dead, and Obi-Wan would make sure that Anakin recognized every lie the Sith Lord had whispered into his ear. 

With Dooku and Grievous still out there, the war was not over yet and the Separatists still threatened to destroy the Republic. But Obi-Wan had hope that the Republic could still be saved, just as he had hope that the Jedi would realize that if a Sith Lord had been able to hide right under their noses and had very nearly succeeded in destroying the Republic and the Order, they would re-evaluate their interpretation of the Code and listen to the Force in order to find a new way to follow.

End

**Author's Note:**

> Contact me on tumblr: yourcarpediem14  
> or livejournal: carpediem_14


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